No Sanctuary For Old Men [18+] |Negan| ✔️ Complete

XXXII • Breakfast

Daphne wandered into the mess hall, clean and clad in skinny jeans and a tank, hair in a thick braid down her back.

Regina stood next to Talia, bouncing up and down with the baby. Arat grinned deviously up at the approaching blonde. She set a plate of food in front of Simon, who had his wheelchair parked at the end of the table, little Belle perched on his lap.

"Toast, toast!" She clapped her hands with glee at the moustached man's plate and he laughed.

He sighed with exaggerated false disdain. "I suppose you can have some of my toast."

"You can say no, if you don't want her to eat your food," Talia said with a giggle.

"As if anyone can say no to this face," Simon scoffed, and Daphne laughed as she took a seat next to Patrick.

"Morning, Daphne," Arat greeted with a toothy grin.

"Oh!" Regina over-exaggerated noticing the addition to their table. "Hi there, you must be Breakfast."

"You guys are all assholes." Daphne put her hands up and blushed a bit, though she wasn't really put out. There was no shame in fucking the hottest guy in the building.

"Asshole!" Belle declared through a mouthful of bread, and Simon choked out a laugh.

"Oh honey, that's not a nice word to say," Talia scolded gently, but she was smiling.

"Daphne said it first," Patrick piped up.

His mother pointed her fork at him. "It is a grown up word." 

He scowled.

"You're right, it wasn't very nice," Daphne amended. "But Simon, Arat and Regina are not very nice. I apologize for calling your wonderful mother an asshole, but not them."

"Apology accepted," Patrick said seriously, and extended his hand. She managed to keep a straight face as she shook it.

"Thanks for defending my honour, little man," Regina said sarcastically, back to making faces at baby Lily.

"I take care of my mom when dad is away." He took a bite of his eggs and Talia looked down at him with warm eyes.

She kissed the top of his head. "My wonderful son."

Daphne turned to Arat. "So what's on the roster today?"

"Negan's got a list of a bunch of places to scout out," the dark eyed woman replied. "Some of the Nomad victims want to go home, so he wants us to make sure they have homes to go back to."

Daphne's heart skipped a beat. "Really?" Ariadne must have talked to him. She hadn't been sure how to tell him that she offered his manpower to do it, but it seemed that he offered it himself.

"Yeah, there aren't many, and we're just going to go in pairs to stay low key," Arat explained.

"How do you guys find out about this stuff so early?" The blonde sighed, taking a thoughtful bite of her toast. "I literally saw him this morning-"

"Breakfast," Regina cut in, complete with air quotes, and Simon choked on his eggs in his mirth.

"-and he didn't tell me my itinerary for the day," Daphne continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

Regina giggled. "Because your itinerary was being-"

"If I am paired with her I'm going to kill myself," Daphne interjected. 

Arat looked far too amused. "Enjoy hell, baby."

As it turned out, the reason Daphne's coworkers knew their daily duties before her was because they all carried radios. Negan would do a wake up call with instructions if they hadn't been previously given.

She smirked when she saw him waiting out front for her, wiggling an antenna'd black box in her direction.

She raised an eyebrow. "You know you could have just told me the plans this morning."

"I was a little fuckin' preoccupied with your fantastic fuckin' tits, strawberry," he said with a lopsided grin.

"You're the worst boss ever," she teased, and he feigned offense, putting a hand over his heart.

"That fuckin' hurts, baby," he said. "And here I brought you a present."

She held out her hand expectantly, wiggling her fingers like a kid waiting for a present. "So this run." Daphne raised her eyes to his. "I meant to talk to you about it."

"No fuckin' worries doll, Ariadne briefed me." Negan waved his hand noncommittally. "I don't want to keep anyone here that doesn't want to fuckin' be here."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you're not upset that I told them we'd do it without asking?" 

He barked a laugh. "If I didn't want to do it I would have shut that shit down faster than a two dicked dog at a bitch festival," he assured her. "I know you didn't get a fancy fuckin' booklet on how to do your job, but part of it is taking care of the people here. Ariadne knows that and that's why she brought me the fuckin' paperwork."

"Okay." She smiled. "Okay, good."

He leaned in, almost conspiratorial. "Would it really have fuckin' stopped you had I said no?"

"No," she admitted. She clipped the radio to the waistband of her jeans. "So can I take the crossbow with me?"

"Shit no!" Negan bellowed a laugh. "You fuckin' suck with that thing. Plus this is low key recon, not some trigger happy fuckin' pillaging."

Daphne pouted, and he leaned down, lips ghosting her ear.

"Put that fuckin' lip away before I bite it off," he growled.

She shivered. "I'd like to see you try," she challenged.

He hissed his bottom lip between his teeth. "Fuckin' brat," he said with menace in his tone, and she giggled.

"You two are disgusting," Arat's voice crackled over the radio, and they laughed, turning to see her sitting on the hood of a Jeep by the front doors.

"Let's go, baby girl!" Regina called, waving them over with her hands. "If we hurry you can be Dinner tonight!"

Daphne put a hand on her forehead, sighing in feigned frustration. "Can I please take the crossbow?"